The Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake by moonlight with the Milky Way.

I had never been to Maroon Lake and the Maroon Bells, so I planned a trip. Ten years this evening, Bob (my brother-in-law and long time photo buddy) stood on the lake-shore.  I saw them for the first time. I was entranced. I see why this is considered to be one of the two most popular and spectacular scenic locations in Colorado.

The stars looked great in the night sky and the Milky Way was rising over the mountains on the far left. I waited for the moon to get high enough to light up the aspen on the right. It was 11:07 pm when I clicked the shutter for this image. My 24-105mm lens was at 24mm. The ISO on the tripod mounted camera was set to 3200 so the exposure wouldn’t be excessively long. The exposure time was 30 seconds and the lens aperture was wide open at f/4.

If you look closely at the far shore on the right, the red light on the back of someone’s  camera is reflected in the lake. That red light tells the photographer the shutter is still open during a long exposure.

Link

“Jay’s Rock” and the Maroon Bells (with morning photos)